The interviewed person was the police officer John David,
Chicago Police Department. He was a police officer, who had
been working in the police for twelve years. Hence, he was
an experienced police officer who knew perfectly how the system
actually functioned. To put it more precisely, his experienced
was very important since he knew how police officers and the
police at large worked more than a decade ago and how it worked
at the moment of the interview. In such a way, he could compare
the work of police then and now providing me, as an interviewer,
with valuable information about consistent changes that took
place in the police, though the major goal of the current
interview was to get information and personal opinion of the
police officer concerning possible improvements of the work
of the police. In this respect, the problem of the high crime
rate and low or insufficient efficiency of the work of the
police made the introduction of changes in the functioning
of the police department particularly important. In such a
context, the opinion of an experienced police officer was
particularly important because he could make objective assessment
of the current policies and their drawback as well as suggest
solutions which could really work and bring positive results
contributing to the decreasing number of crimes and offenses
in Chicago.
The interview took place in the police department. In fact,
the place of the interview was chosen intentionally since
it was the work place of the police officer where he could
feel comfortable, being in the familiar environment. At the
same time, the choice of the police department was determined
by my attempt to better understand the conditions of the routine
work of police officers in the department. However, it seems
as if the place of the interview increased the formality of
the interview. What is meant here is the fact that the police
officer felt being at work and, what is more, he felt being
a representative of the Chicago police department that probably
affected his answers, which were probably more formal rather
than personal. Nevertheless, I believe his answers were quite
sincere because, being an experienced officer, John David,
was not really embarrassed or puzzled by my questions and
interview at large. In such a context, the familiar environment
contributed to the objectivity of his answers. In addition,
he could feel the support of his colleagues.
Moreover, the room, where the interview took place, was very
convenient for calm and serious interview since no one interfered
in the process of interviewing and the police officer interviewed
could relax due to the calm atmosphere of the room. We sat
at comfortable chairs, the dim light, a cup of coffee made
the police officer felt comfortable and relax making the atmosphere
less formal that made his answer more balanced, personal and
less formal, even though the interview took place in the police
department. In such a way, I have managed to achieve the balance
between formal and informal environment that, Ii believe,
contributed to the higher objectivity and sincerity of John’s
answers.
During the interview, the police officer was calm and even
a bit self-assured, though not too much. I suppose that it
was just a professional characteristic which John David developed
in the course of his work in the Chicago police department.
He answered questions directly and he attempted to use less
formal language than he usually does, probably because we
were familiar with each other since we got acquainted a couple
of months ago, when I conducted a research of the criminal
situation in the area. A friend of mine recommended me John
David as a good and reliable police officer. Thus, I decided
to interview him concerning the possible improvements and
in the course of the conversation we focused on the problem
of the effectiveness of the work of the Chicago police department
and, namely on the low effectiveness of the interaction of
the police and local community, which John David believed
to be an important condition of the effective work of the
police.
In the course of interview, John David explained the significance
of the interaction of the police and community and laid emphasis
on the necessity of such interaction for the higher effectiveness
of the work of the police. In fact, in the interview he states
that the effectiveness of the work of the police is, to a
significant extent, defined by its interoperability with the
local community. In actuality, the performance of law enforcement
agencies at large and the police in particular is viewed by
the public as ineffective and insufficient to maintain the
public order and decrease the high crime rates. “We
cannot work when people are against us”, John David
says. “When I encounter a hostile attitude I grew quite
disappointed because I know for sure that without the cooperation
with the community I will be unable to investigate crime or
prevent crimes effectively. For instance, sometimes you know
that people in the community know about a person who has committed
a crime, but they will never tell you because they do not
trust the police and, therefore, they do not trust you.”
Naturally, the growing crime rates evoke negative emotions
of the public and the image of the police deteriorates dramatically,
though, objectively speaking, the police may work effectively
and prevent the growth of crime rates. However, the major
problem is the fact that the public gets only superficial
information about the work of the police since what people
do know is the level of crime rates but they have practically
no ideas about how the police actually works, what problems
police officers face daily in their work. What is more, often
police officers face the problem of the lack of cooperation
from the part of the public because people do not really believe
in the effectiveness of the work of the police.
In such a situation, it is obvious that the lack of interoperability
and effective communication of the police with the public
leads to the widening gap between the police and the public
that naturally decreases the effectiveness of the work of
the police and increases the disbelief of the public in the
ability of the police to decrease consistently the level of
crime rates and prevent crimes in the community. For instance,
John David says: “I feel as if there is a wall between
me and people, which I attempt to break but I can’t
do it on my own. I need some feedback from the community.
Otherwise, all my efforts will be useless.” In this
respect, it is important to underline the great prospects
of the police communication interoperability in the current
situation. In fact, the police communication interoperability
has considerable benefits that can improve the work of the
police, its effectiveness, and the cooperation of the police
with the public. To put it more precisely, John David states:
“Today, people can inform the police about the crime
without making much efforts. You know, almost everyone has
a mobile phone and can easily call the police if he witnesses
a crime or even if he just suspects that something is going
wrong. The problem is that people are indifferent to what
is going on around them and I believe that we, the police,
should change the public attitude to crime and to the police.
We need to inform them more about the importance of calling
the police to prevent crimes.”
Furthermore, he explains that, in actuality, many people view
the police as a law enforcement agency that maintains the
public order but these people do not think that the maintenance
of the existing order and the prevention of crimes is the
common duty of the police and the public. In fact, the potential
of the public in the prevention of crimes is huge but people
are often unconscious of their ability to contribute to the
prevention of crimes in the area they live in. Instead, they
heavily rely on the police making no efforts to assist to
the police or even criticizing police officers for the ineffective
work.
In such a context, the development of the police communication
interoperability can solve numerous problems and close the
gap between the police and the public. To put it more precisely,
the police should develop actively the interaction with the
public and the communication of police officers with the public
is the first step on the way to the effective interoperability.
What is meant here is the fact that the police should actively
develop its public relations programs in order to inform the
public about the existing risks and threats concerning the
crime. In such a way, the police can inform the public concerning
the danger of being victimized as well as give certain recommendations
concerning the basic norms of behavior which can protect people
from becoming of offenders or event preventing a crime. In
this respect, it is very important that the police officers
who struggle daily with criminals and offenders cooperated
closely with psychologists. This cooperation would contribute
to the development of more effective programs of interaction
between the police and the public as well as the information
and recommendations provided by the police will be more effective
if psychologists closely cooperate with police officers who
come across offenders regularly. The police officers can provide
information on the basic crimes and risks, while psychologists
can define major psychological characteristics of criminals,
which help work out effective strategies of the prevention
of crimes, when the information is delivered to the public.
For instance, the police officers share their experience and
observations of the behavior of criminals, such as robbers,
with psychologists. The latter make a psychological analysis
of the behavior of a typical offender, a robber, for instance,
and define typical psychological characteristics of the offender.
On the basis of this information, it is possible to work out
measures which can prevent the crime, since people will know
how to behave in order to avoid robbery. In fact, this strategy
may be applied in relation to other crimes and offenders.
In this respect, John David notes: “I have been working
in the police for twelve years and I know how criminals think
and why they do this or that, but younger officers have practically
no idea about the psychology of criminals and this is why
they can make errors. So, I think the assistance of psychologists
would be very helpful for them. Anyway, the less errors police
officers do the more confident in the police people are.”
In such a way, on the basis of practical and psychological
information about criminals and reasons for which they commit
crimes specialist can work out effective ways of the prevention
of these crimes giving the public recommendations on the behavior
and developing action plans in case of the commitment of a
crime. Thus, the public, being informed and warned, can assist
the police or even prevent crimes even without the interference
of police since sometimes victims provoke criminals to the
commitment of crimes.
At the same time, it is very important to improve interoperability
within the police in order to increase the effectiveness of
its work and, what is more, it is also possible to facilitate
in the communication between the public and the police. In
this respect, the introduction of the new information technologies
and information systems as well as the latest means of communication
may be particularly effective. Actually, the contemporary
IT and IS open huge opportunities for the effective communication
between police departments and units. The modern communication
systems allow police officers to communicate regardless of
the physical distance. Consequently, the police can react
more effectively and faster on any offense or crimes due to
the use of new IT, IS and communications, which can help not
only get information about the crime but also locate the scene
of the crime and develop an effective plan of detaining the
offender or offenders. In addition, new systems of surveillance
can be effective tools of prevention of crimes, but such systems
need the agreement from the part of the public. John David
says: “You can’t even imagine how all these new
systems helped us and how much crimes we have prevented due
to them.”
Hence, it is necessary to communicate with the local community
and convince people to introduce new systems of surveillance.
In this respect, the assistance of PR professionals and psychologists
may be needed. Also, it is possible to organize regular meetings
of police officer who patrol the area regularly with the local
community. In the process of communication of the police officers
and local people they can better understand each other’s
problems and, what is more they can find more effective way
of the work of the police and its cooperation with the local
community. For instance, the criticism of the police from
the part of the local community can reveal drawbacks in the
work of police officers. In such a way, John David concluded
that through the police communicative interoperability it
is possible to make the police consistently more effective
than it has ever been before.
The interview ended and I felt that I have changed my view
on the work of the police since that moment on I could view
the work of police officers from a different angle since I
knew how they work from within.